Cheat sheets for everybody

Hey, kids! Are you upset because you were caught cheating on a test or because your teacher discovered that you were not the actual author of that brilliant essay that you downloaded?

Well, not to worry, at least if you're in the Scranton School District. If you're caught cheating and end up with a low grade, or worse, just appeal to the Scranton School Board, which recently demonstrated an extraordinarily high tolerance for cheating - even by teachers!

The state Department of Education, which suspected that cheating by school personnel had occurred on required standardized tests between 2009 and 2011, ordered the district to conduct an investigation. Superintendent William King did so, and the department accepted his findings that cheating had occurred.

But Monday, the school board reversed the modest discipline that Mr. King imposed on four teachers, upholding a teachers union grievance and revoking letters of reprimand.

Mr. King already had balked at his own plan to issue a fifth letter of reprimand, and a grievance regarding another teacher who was suspended without pay has gone to arbitration.

So, here's what district parents and taxpayers know about the cheating and who will be held accountable for it: nothing and nobody. The district has refused to disclose the nature of the cheating or the schools where it occurred.

Board members, who appoint a superintendent to conduct district business professionally but rely on unionized teachers for political support, clearly aren't interested in accountability. Perhaps the dog ate their homework.

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